Back to Gary Varner's home page Links to more far-flung stuff This is basically my personal bookmarks rendered independent of any browser software and set out in public against the chance you find something useful here too. The links are collected under these headings: Words - The internet - Time - Weather - Up in the air - Above the weather - The earthly environment - Sustenance - Cycling - Plagiarism links - Sounds - People - Numbers - Law and governmental order

Plan your trip   Local Radar   Detailed Forecast

Since I became graduate advisor in my department, I've been collecting useful links for graduate students (and their advisors) and now I've moved them here: Click here for useful links for graduate students

Words
• Dictionaries:

  • An on-line Webster's dictionary
  • A dictionary of American-Australian slang
  • A Worthless Word For The Day
  • And www.onelook.com searches multiple dictionaries (wildcards = "?" and "*"):
• The Guardian
• The New York Times
• Evans Library:
  • catalog
  • The Philosopher's Index on-line
  • electronic reserves
  • The deliverEdocs, the library's electronic document delivery system
• The TAMU Medical Sciences Library catalog
• The Backpack on-line co-authorship resource
• Writeboard, another collaborative authorship service
• A list of abbreviated journal titles
• A free on-line translator, FreeTranslation.com
• Find rhyming words
• The UT Austin guidelines for classroom copying and their discussion of fair use of copyrighted materials
• Another interpretation of the fair use doctrine (by the Center for Social Media).
• Student information privacy standards set forth in FERPA/The Buckley Act
• BibleGateway.com

The internet
• Logon to philosophy.tamu.edu or Horde in the Philosophy Department at Texas A&M
• The LISTSERV page at Texas A&M. A very few of the LISTSERV lists at Texas A&M:
  • ISEE-L
  • GPAC
  • BLAB
• The BLAB (Brain, Language and Animal Behavior) group is supported by the Center for Humanities Research and maintains a mailing list: BLAB@listserv.tamu.edu
• SPACKLED is a recently founded BLAB franchise at the University of Indiana
• The PHILGRADS list: http://philosophy.tamu.edu/mailman/listinfo/philgrads sends mail to all graduate students in the Philosophy Department
• The LISTSERV manual
• Navigating the Internet (a friend's internet class)
• An HTML manual
• An HTML special characters guide
• A couple of versions of the hexidecimal RGB color spectrum: from barefootsworld, and Milesresearch
• http://webxact.watchfire.com/ to check web page functionality and compliance with accessibility standards
• EchoEcho.com (lots of free code, graphics, tutorials, etc.)
• Fotosearch Stock Photography (an enormous collection of photos, but definitely not free!)
• A screen size test
• TV Guide on line
  • for Bryan-College Station specifically
  • C-Span Network schedules
• A collection of images for web pages
• The Calibrated Peer Review system at UCLA (looks like a great idea)
  Click here to log into the TAMU course offerings
• Turnitin, an on-line plagiarism detection service
• Medicinenet.com
• Slidescanning.com to digitize your slides
• Snapfish on-line photo printing service

Time
• Get the correct time (in the Central Time Zone): my crude version, a flashier version, and a still flashier one
• U.S. time zones and international time zones from www.time.gov
• Compare the current time in cities around the world and lots of other stuff at TimeAndDate.com, which includes a printable calendar with lunar phases (2007, 2008)
• Visit the Time Service Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory, the ultimate legal authority on time in the United States

Weather
• The Weather Underground
• WeatherReports.com
• The Weather Channel - to go directly to the regional radar click here
• WeatherStreet
• KBTX's weather page (has a nice radar loop showing University Drive and Highway 6 through town)
• Flo's Weather Zone with lots of cool, weather-related links
• The NOAA Storm Prediction Center:
  • Watch/warning map
  • Current watches

Up in the air
• Continental Airlines, whose Frequent Flyer Program I like
• American Airlines, whose meals, and whose facilities at DFW Airport suck
• Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com, Expedia, and Cheaptickets.com for booking flights, AutoEurope.com, and Hotels.com for hotels
• The CLL - IAH airport shuttle
• Login to Holiday Inn's Priority Club

Above the weather
• A New Yorker article on light pollution
• JPass, the NASA satellite tracking program
• Heavens-Above, another satellite tracking program (I recommend this one over NASA's)
• Schedules of meteor showers and comets
• Schedules of lunar phases, sunsets, twilight, etc.
• The Your Sky interactive planetarium, the Earth and Moon Viewer, and Solar System Live, all from John Walker's page, where you can also download the Home Planet software that locates all of the above on your own computer
• The World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness
• The Earth & Sky program's page
• The Nasa home page includes updates on the Mars Exploration Rovers and NASA TV for Windows Media player
• Balloon tying with Professor Wonder

The earthly environment
• Google Maps, Google Pedometer, MapMyRun.com, MapMyRide.com
• A virtual tour of Lick Creek Park
• The National Register of Big Trees
• Trees on the Iowa State University campus
• USDA plant hardiness zone map
• Birds of North America on-line (from Cornell)
• Cat calls (the ones that come from felines, not construction workers)
• Make reservations in Texas State Parks
• Texas lakes, rivers, and boating regulations
• Texas fishing regulations
• Maps of Texas
• Topozone for topographic maps
• Calculate distances between towns and get driving instructions between them
• A handy summary of the five kingdoms of modern biological taxonomy and the Tree of Life project at the University of Arizona
• A virtual tour of Portugal
• A gallery of professional pictures of lovely Portugal
• The Portugal News On-Line (English language paper)
• Oeste Online (a newspaper for "the western region" of Portugal [?])
• viajar.clix.pt
• Portugal.org
• Train lines in Portugal
• Trams and buses in Lisbon
• Metro Lisboa
• Rede Express bus lines, Portugal
• Euro/Dollar conversion rates
• An article on tipping
• WheresGeorge.com (tracking the movement of bills in circulation)

Sustenance
• A few recipes
• My favorite restaurants
• Information on environmentally preferable seafood is available from The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch and from The Fish List
• Mercury levels in seafood from the EPA and the DHHS
• Local Harvest (to find locally grown food)
• The American Dietetic Association's 2003 position statement on vegetarian diets
• The Farmed Animal Watch
• Super Bock beer of beautiful Portugal
• The Capitol Brewery in Madison, Wisconsin
• Ziegenbock and Shiner Bock beers of Texas
• The Celis Brewery produced a fantastic weiss (white) beer until it closed in January of 2001, but it is being brewed again in Michigan now
• A coffee FAQ page
• Espresso Top 50 (list of espresso-related sites)
• Coffee stuff from Sweet Maria's
• The Chef's catalog is a fine source of kitchen stuff

Cycling
• Brazos Valley Cyclists (BVC)
• Texas Transportation Code regarding bicycles
• Cycling gear: Price Point, Performance Bike
• Some local routes:
  • The weekly (Saturday) BVC Flagpole Ride (52 miles through Tunis, Caldwell, and Cook’s Point): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2017094 (descriptions of this and the following two rides are here: http://www.brazoscyclists.org/train.htm)
  • The monthly "Monster PMS Ride" (don't blame the name on me): http://www.brazoscyclists.org/PMSride.pdf
  • The weekly TNP ("Take No Prisoners") route (26 miles or 32.5 miles if you go twice around the terminal loop): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=807154
  • Another, unnamed route in the same area: http://tinyurl.com/4n98r2.
  • The Elmo Weedon/Old Reliance loop (36 miles to the northeast): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2286347 (this can be expanded to about 46 miles by heading down Glade and Anderson to Rock Prairie and angling up to highway 30 via Bird Pond Road).
  • The Southside Loop, longer (42 mile) version: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/college-station/1039283547
  • The Southside Loop, shorter (34.5 mile) version: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/tx/college-station/483911243882
  • The Southside Loop, still shorter (27.9 mile) version: http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/tx/college%20station/739843409789
  • My office out through Carlos, Piedmont, Erwin, and Anderson ("the Anderson Loop," 64 miles): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2013784
  • My office out 47 to 21 and around the airport (28 miles): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1534312
  • A 40-ish mile northwest loop out past Lake Bryan and back plus around the back of the airport (34 or so miles if you drop that last part): http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/tx/college%20station/429551357790
  • My office out past Lick Creek through Millikan and beyond: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1534269
  • “Colin’s corners” (some nice roads in NE Brazos County): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1534179 - http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/tx/college%2520station/433590145948
  • The Millican-Navasota-Carlos Loop (65+ miles): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2151071
  • The “worst ride of the year” route (45 miles): http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/united-states/tx/college-station/664735127

Plagiarism links
• Faculty Resources on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism (from the TAMU Libraries)
• Excercise: Recognizing Plagiarism (by Charlotte Bronson of Iowa State)
• Another exercise on recognizing plagiarism (from Indiana University)
• "Plagiarism in Colleges in the USA" by Ronald B. Standler (2000), a very comprehensive piece with a legal emphasis and internal hotlinks
• "Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It", prepared by Indiana University for its students
• "Thinking and Talking About Plagiarism", aimed at encouraging prevention by teachers, from Beford/St. Martin's Technotes

Sounds
• The Kerrville University Songwriting Competition
• Art of the Song is a nice syndicated program about songwriting
• The amazing guitar chord generator, by Jim Cranwell
• Chords and "TAB" from: Chordie.com/, TabPower.com, AZchords.com, The Guitar Guy
• Sheet Music Plus
• NPR on-line radio feed
• Air America Radio - audio feed
• Hickory Wind (my radio show)
• FOLKDJ-L email list
• A listing of folk concerts in Texas from Dirty Linnen magazine
• www.aggielandconcerts.com
• Austin music listed by venue from Austin Metro Entertainment
• A listing of house concert series nation-wide (these are a great way to hear folk music, and there are ones right here in College Station and in Brenham!
• The Kerrville Folk Festival
• West Coast Live (sort of A Prairie Home Companion in Birkenstocks)
• This American Life, a program of audio essays
• NPR's award-winning interview program Fresh Air with Terry Gross, on NPR
• Miscellaneous alternative radio programs like "Democracy Now," "Hightower Radio," and "Radio Nation"
• FolkMusic.org
• The Hootenanny Holler radio charts

• Guitar music
  • OLGA
  • Adam Schneider's site
  • Fretplay.com
  
  
• Record labels
  • Red House
  • Rounder
  • Waterbug
  
  
• Some songwriters I admire
  • Slaid Cleaves
  • Fred Eaglesmith
  • John Gorka
  • Lucy Kaplansky
  • Leo Kottke
  • Bill Morrissey
  • Michelle Shocked
  • Chris Smither
  • Richard Thompson
  • Cheryl Wheeler
  • Susan Graham White
  • David Wilcox and a list of his songs by tuning (Wilcox is famous for playing everything in alternate tunings)
  • Dar Williams
  • Kate Wolf

• Bookings contact list

People
• A Myers-Briggs style personality assessment
• Switchboard.com, a telephone directory with names, addresses, and phone numbers from white pages all over the USofA
• Brazos Progressives
• PollingReport.com
• Healthopedia.com

Numbers
• Calculate the time you have remaining at www.deathclock.com (here's here's my personalized death clock)
• Calculate interest payments and related stuff: MortgageCalculator.net, www.mortgageloan.com/calculator, Bankrate.com
• Check your mortgage history with Bank of America
• Get blue book values and dealer's invoice prices via Kelly Blue Book
• Check on the stock market
• Check your accounts at Citi Bank (ne. First American)
• Check your accounts with ING (ne. Aetna)
• Check your ING Direct accounts
• Check your Chase credit card account or scheduled payments
• Spell out your phone number on PhoneSpell.org
• Locate telephone prefixes through TheDirectory.org
• Area codes
• Postage rates
• Local gas prices, updated Tuesdays (click on "read more" under the first article for a list of prices)

Law and governmental order
• Find your Texas state representatives
• Federal laws
• Federal regulations
• A nice overview of the public trust doctrine and its possible application in environmental law
• FindLaw.com
• Virtual Library: Law

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